Vice-rector Kesić at the Danube Rectors’ Conference

The vice-rector for human and material resources of the University of Banja Luka, prof. Dalibor Kesić, PhD, took part on 13 November 2025 in the work of the Danube Rectors’ Conference “Universities and AI: Shaping Tomorrow”, which is being held this year in Tuzla.

The conference, which runs until 14 November, brings together rectors, professors, and experts from numerous European universities, as well as representatives from the Republic of Srpska, the Federation of BiH, and the region, for the purpose of assessing the role and responsibility of universities in a time of rapid development of artificial intelligence.

The topics of the meeting include academic integrity and the use of data based on artificial intelligence, the challenges that this technology brings to higher education and research, as well as the expectations of the labour market in the era of digital transformation. Among the speakers are representatives of universities from Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Serbia, Poland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as experts in the field of the digital economy and artificial intelligence.

The conference is organised with the support of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) from Austria, and the programme also includes the ceremonial awarding of the Danube Prizes for 2025.

The vice-president of the conference, prof. Nermina Hadžigrahić, PhD, emphasised the importance of regulating the field of artificial intelligence and the need for education in that respect.

“We are faced with numerous challenges that artificial intelligence brings, particularly in education. We are still not aware of the extent of its impact, but it is important that this field be regulated and that we all educate ourselves about what it really means,” said prof.
Hadžigrahić.The conference highlighted that universities and societies as a whole, in a time of rapid development of artificial intelligence, face new challenges and opportunities. Particular emphasis was placed on the need for universities to assume an active, responsible, and ethical role in the application of artificial intelligence in education and research, and to build, through joint dialogue, a strategic framework that will position them at the forefront of transformation in the Danube region. The Danube Rectors’ Conference is one of the oldest university networks in Europe and brings together seventy universities.

Photo: University of Tuzla